Book 3, Chapter 196: Reason

The man motioned for the others to stop. He arrived at the counter and sat down next to Chen Chuan. When he saw Chen Chuan holding the iced water, he apologized. “Sorry, Lao Huang isn't a good host.”

He then ordered the bartender, “Give him something warm.”

The bartender immediately served a cup of hot tea.

“I’m Ai, and let’s leave it at that. I’m the owner of the place,” the man introduced himself.

“You’re looking... for your friend, is it?” he asked tentatively.

“I suppose so, yes,” Chen Chuan answered.

“Since you’ve found the place, we need to show you some respect, but I have to tell you that we’re not very involved in your friend being brought here. We have no grudge with him. Someone ordered us to do it, and since they pay us, we had to do it, you know?” Mr. Ai said while looking sincerely at Chen Chuan.

“You seem like an honest man, Mr. Ai.” Chen Chuan met his gaze squarely.

“I have no other choice. I know who you are, and since we want to continue doing our business here, we don’t want to become enemies with you.” Mr. Ai shrugged before motioning to the men behind him. “Bring him out.”

Two of the subordinates nearby immediately walked further into the bar. A few minutes later, they dragged out a man by his elbows. The man had his head hung low, and a bloody scent, mixed with another foul odor, came out of his body. Chen Chuan could see multiple wounds on his body.

When the subordinates lifted his face, bruises were littered all over it. Dried blood was on the corners of his mouth and eyes. He seemed to have been fed some sort of medicine, because he was in a dazed state and instinctively shut his eyes to avoid the bright light in the room.

Chen Chuan observed him. Even though his face was swollen, he resembled the person in the photo Qi Gao had sent him.

“Hao Zhuo, your friend’s here,” Mr. Ai said to the man.

Hao Zhuo forced his eyes open and took a long look at the people in front of him before mumbling, “Who’s my friend?”

He didn’t know Chen Chuan at all, which conflicted with Chen Chuan’s claim that they were friends, but Mr. Ai didn’t seem to find anything strange about this. He said politely, “Look, sir. He’s right here. Hao Zhuo was roughed up a bit, but they’re all superficial wounds. We’ll pay for his medical fees.”

As he spoke, he pressed down on his Realm Pass and sent some money.

Chen Chuan didn’t take it. He just said, “Since he’s here, I’ll be taking him with me. Thank you for your cooperation, Mr. Ai.”

He stood up and took Hao Zhuo from the subordinates, not caring about the filth covering his body. With ease, he brought him out.

“One moment!” Mr. Ai cried out from behind Chen Chuan. “Sir, you can take him with you, but could you... give us something to show for it?”

Chen Chuan turned around.

Mr. Ai hurriedly brought his hands up in a show of surrender. “Please don’t misunderstand, I’d just like you to leave proof that you were here. After all, we’ll need to pretend like we’ve tried to stop you from taking Hao Zhuo.”

He shrugged and motioned to the bar around them.

Chen Chuan gave him a long look before turning back, as if he was going to ignore him, but when he passed by the decorative wall, he punched it.

Boom!

The wall shattered instantly, and debris, along with all the decorations on the wall, fell on the floor.

Mr. Ai and his subordinates’ expressions changed, and they gulped.

Then, they saw a statue in an unidentifiable shape inside the decorative wall. It was more than one meter tall, had horns on its head, a savage look, and a mouth that curled up to the corners of its eyes. It looked like it was smiling, but anyone who saw it would shiver at the sight.

When Mr. Ai saw the statue, his expression changed, and he shot up from his seat. Upon seeing his reaction, his subordinates became nervous and tightened their hold over their weapons.

Chen Chuan ignored them and struck the statue. It shattered, but the head remained whole and rolled around on the floor until it reached the center of the bar. It blended with the blood-red light. At the same time, Chen Chuan’s second self blurred out even worse.

He gave it a cool glance before saying, “There you go. You can show that to your boss.”

He dragged Hao Zhuo to the door, and the gang members standing guard opened it at Mr. Ai’s behest.

As they watched him leave, one of his subordinates asked, “Are we just going to let him leave like that, Boss?”

“What else can we do? He’s a law enforcer from the Resolution Department. If you want to die, go ahead, but I intend to live for a few more years.”

“What if those guys down there ask for Hao Zhuo...”

“Why else do you think I asked for something to show that he was here?” Mr. Ai retorted.

Then, he removed his sunglasses and stared at the statue’s head. “Still, when was this thing put in the wall, and who did it?”

His subordinates looked at each other before shaking their heads.

Mr. Ai had hired them, and when they arrived, the bar was already open for business. If Mr. Ai didn’t know, how could they?

Mr. Ai felt queasy, though he didn’t know whether it was because his mind was playing tricks on him. He ordered, “Throw that thing out the back, far, far away.”

***

Chen Chuan walked out of the bar with Hao Zhuo, though the man remained dazed. After Chen Chuan put him in the back seat, he fainted.

Chen Chuan scanned him with his Realm Pass. “Is that your friend, Mr. Qi?”

“Yeah, that’s him!” Qi Gao answered.

“I’ll bring him back to your place. We need to figure out what’s going on,” Chen Chuan said.

Once he brought Hao Zhuo back to Qi Gao’s place, they took him to the house Qi Gao had gotten for Hao Zhuo to hide from the gang. Qi Gao first checked his injuries before thanking the stars. “They were quite brutal with him, but they didn’t break any bones or tendons. They just fed him some hallucinogens.”

He took out a syringe and injected it into Hao Zhuo’s neck. A moment passed before the man started coughing and demanding water. “Water... Give me water...”

Qi Gao poured a glass of water for him, and he drank it like a man dying of thirst. After taking some time to recover, he started hissing in pain, so Qi Gao gave him a painkiller, and he finally stopped complaining.

Some more time passed before he regained his composure and turned to Qi Gao. “Did you ask that guy to save me, Lao Qi?”

“Do you actually think that I had the time to think about saving you? Those guys came knocking on my door. What on earth did you do?” Qi Gao snapped at him.

Hao Zhuo coughed before saying, “I dragged you into my mess, Lao Qi. Sorry about that, but that was never the plan. I told them that you had nothing to do with it. They just refused to believe me.”

“What did you do? Be honest.”

“Um...”

Hao Zhuo hesitated for a moment before casting a glance at Chen Chuan.

“He’s on our side. You wouldn’t have been able to get out of the bar if it weren’t for him.” Qi Gao huffed.

“I can tell that he’s someone important. You’re amazing, Lao Qi. When did you get such a friend?” Hao Zhuo asked.

“Are you going to tell us or not? If you aren’t, I’m throwing you out, and you’re cleaning up your own mess,” Qi Gao snapped impatiently.

“Fine! Fine, I’ll tell you. Geez...”

Hao Zhuo then told them. It was originally not a complicated matter. Hao Zhuo was the warehouse manager of a lower city district gang and was mainly in charge of ritual materials. Sometimes, he would grab some “bits and pieces” and sell them to get some side income. That was how he got Qi Gao’s ritual materials.

As for who the ritual materials were for and how they were used? He didn’t care about that.

But trouble soon came. Not too long ago, the ones behind the gang came over to check inventory and found that a lot of ritual materials had gone missing, so they asked him to retrieve them all. Sensing that things were about to go very bad, Hao Zhuo fled to the upper city district.

“I don’t know why they’re going so far for some ritual materials. They chased me all the way to the upper city district. There are plenty of people who do what I do to earn a living, and all I did was sell some scraps. They weren’t even worth much. Why are they coming after me alone?” Hao Zhuo complained.

“That doesn’t make sense. The materials weren’t worth much. Also, why would they even think that you can locate the ritual materials you sold? It’s been so long ago,” Qi Gao mumbled.

“Exactly. I don’t get it. That tiny amount of materials wouldn’t even be enough for them to pay for the algae fuel they used to hire those goons and come up here.”

“Damn it. Did they lose something and decide to make you their scapegoat?” Qi Gao wondered.

“Fuck! That’s actually possible.”

“That bar might belong to the Plague Gang. Are the goods connected to them?” Chen Chuan asked.

“Lao Ai is from the Plague Gang?” Hao Zhuo was stunned for a moment, and his expression changed. He said fearfully, “I can’t stay in the lower city district anymore, if that’s the case. Lao Qi, you have to help me find another place to live. Don’t worry, I’ll pay you.”

“This isn’t about fucking money!” Qi Gao snapped.

“The Plague Gang has their own biotechnology, so I don’t think they were trying to make you their scapegoat. It’s highly likely that something is wrong with the materials you sold, and they want to get them back,” Chen Chuan said after some thinking.

Hao Zhuo pondered over this. “That makes sense, but I’ve sold a lot of ritual materials. Aside from a few regulars, I don’t know where the rest went.”

“Mr. Qi, you should get another place for all of you to live. The higher-ups are keeping a close eye on the Plague Gang, so they won’t be able to come to the upper city district with ease. That’s why they won’t track you two down on their own but will instead hire helpers. Don’t panic because of this. I have some business to deal with, so hide for now. Once I’m back, I’ll take care of it,” Chen Chuan suggested.

“Let me handle this, Chen Chuan. I’ll find a place for them,” Wu Bei suddenly piped up in their Realm Passes.

Qi Gao hesitated for a moment before saying, “I’m fine with it, but Xiao Qi’s studies will be affected...”

“Xiao Qi is in middle school now, isn’t she?” Chen Chuan asked.

“Yes. She’s in her first year, and she’s studying in a private middle school.”

Chen Chuan thought about this. Border Fusion had invested in several private schools, so he decided to contact Yan Yi.

Once he got the details confirmed, he said to Qi Gao, “I’ll have someone help Xiao Qi transfer schools. They should be able to send her to another middle school that’s about the same as her previous one. Since someone else will be doing it for you, you don’t have to worry about others knowing where she’s studying.”

“That’s great! Thank you, Chen Chuan.” Qi Gao was delighted and thanked him.

Hao Zhuo watched Qi Gao in envy.

His friend is pretty amazing. Will I be able to become friends with him too?

After Chen Chuan finished all his arrangements, he exchanged some words with Qi Gao. Once he was sure that his help was no longer needed, he left.

Hao Zhuo might still be keeping some secrets, but this was a huge mess, and he didn’t have the time nor energy to make sense of it. So, he asked the two to hide from trouble first. He would help them deal with the trouble once he was done with the defense mission.